Bigoli in Salsa + Pistachio-Parmesan Crumble

First the recipe:

Bigoli in Salsa + Pistachio-Pecorino Crumble

Serves 4ish

For the pasta:

• 1 lb. Bigoli pasta (can sub bucatini)

• 2 oz can anchovies packed in oil (about 12 filets), drained

• 1.5 large sweet onions. sliced (about 1/4 inch thick)

• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced

• 1 egg, hard boiled*

• extra virgin olive oil, a lot of it

• black pepper, to taste

• salt, to taste

• 3/4 cup dry white wine

For the Pistachio-Parmesan Crumble:

• 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, raw or dry roasted

• 1/4 cup packed curly leaf parsley

• 1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese (or parmesan)

• any bread, preferably stale (I used leftover focaccia) OR 1/3 cup breadcrumbs

• lemon, for zesting

* My favorite way to hard-boil eggs: Place eggs in a pot of water with just enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil and immediately turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the hot water off heat for 7 minutes. Remove from water and cool before peeling.

Mash the hard-boiled egg yolk (discard the white or save it for something else), with the garlic and a teaspoon or so of olive oil to make a creamy, thick paste. Set aside.

If using fresh bread, preheat the oven to 425ºF and cut the bread into cubes. Dry-bake the bread on a baking sheet until completely crunchy. Let cool and crush into breadcrumbs, reserving 1/3 cup of them for this recipe. Toast the pistachios until golden brown and roughly chop.

In a bowl, toss together the chopped pistachios, chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, salt, pepper, and the zest from half of a large lemon. Set aside.

Heat a good amount of olive oil in a deep sauté pan over medium heat (about 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil to start with, you’ll add more later). Once the oil is hot, add in the sliced onions and a generous pinch of salt. Stir occasionally as the onions sweat. Once the onions are starting to gain color, add the drained anchovies into the pan. Once the onions are mostly golden brown and the oil is sopped up, deglaze with the white wine and cook off until most liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the egg yolk paste and a bit more olive oil, and reduce heat to a low simmer, stirring occasionally. In a large pot bring well-salted water to a boil and cook the bigoli until al dente. Scoop about 1/4 cup of starchy pasta water into the onion and anchovy sauce to loosen it up a little. Use tongs to bring the pasta straight from the water to the sauce. Toss together and finish with freshly ground black pepper to your liking (I encourage a heavy amount). Let cook for 1-2 more minutes to allow the sauce to stick to the pasta. Serve immediately, topped with a generous handful of the pistachio crumble. Finish with more parsley, lemon zest, and a drizzle more of olive oil.

Serve immediately. This pasta cools and dries unusually fast.

I fell in love with this pasta dish when I first tried it in Venice, Italy about five years ago, and I have since sporadically tested and tweaked recipes in hopes of one day recreating a version even a fraction as delicious as I remember it tasting. A concerning amount of tinned fish later, I’ve finally mastered it.

“Bigoli in Salsa” is a classic Venetian pasta dish made with onions and anchovies. It’s nearly as simple as cacio e pepe to make but about 10 times more flavorful in the end. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good cacio e pepe, but there’s something addicting about a dish that is so easy to eat, yet becomes more and more interesting with each bite. It’s completely effortless to cook, as well. All you really need is bigoli pasta, good olive oil (and a lot of it), anchovies, and onions. I think all of the extra stuff makes it far more unique and delicious, but these ingredients are the basics. When I ate it in Venice, the restaurant topped it off with pistachios that complemented the rich-saltiness of the onions and anchovies so well. Through all my research, I’m fairly certain that’s not traditional at all. Call me spoiled, but I can’t imagine bigoli in salsa without some pistachios now, which is how I came up with this pistachio-breadcrumb for a little added crunch and nuttiness. My favorite part about eating this dish is that after you’ve eaten all of the pasta, you’re left with the leftover breadcrumb mixture at the bottom that has sopped up all of the flavor from the “sauce.” It’s truly divine.

I will admit, it definitely isn’t a universally-appealing dish. Anchovies, onions, and garlic don’t make the most persuasive case when you’re brainstorming dinner ideas for a diverse crowd, unless everyone just so happens to really love all those things (I do). This dish is extremely modest, though. It’s simple and surprisingly light in flavor. The anchovies melt into the caramelized onions and mellow out, offering more of an umami/savoriness than fishiness. Of course, if you’re truly an anchovy-enthusiast, you can toss them in just towards the end to keep them as delightfully fishy as possible.